Who Am I?
by SlySenran408
Summary: Onslaught hated this job, and so did his brothers. But they hadn't been given a choice; half way through Commando training and they're re-assigned a new task to train for. Hunting deserters of the GAR wasn't going to be fun, it wasn't meant to. But training for it, was far worse. - Side story to "Where are we lost?"
1. Chapter 1 Training

**Authors Note: **This is my second story and I think you'll like it. This is a side story to "Where are we lost?" my first story, which is still progressing. Be warned that this story occurs before and during WAWL. (Yeah, nice acronym I know). Just to be on the safe side, this story is not suitable for children, you've been warned. **Please read and review!**

###

**Two months before first deployment of clones to Geonosis.**

#

Onslaught hated this job, and so did his brothers. But they hadn't been given a choice; half way through Commando training and they're reassigned a new task to train for. Hunting deserters of the GAR wasn't going to be fun, it wasn't meant to. But training for it, was far worse.

He tried not to think about what he was doing. But if they refused to do this, they would be the ones being 'reconditioned'.

His squad; Jett, Swindle, Strafe and their new Sergeant, Ryker were all Onslaught had. They were his family and he wasn't about to lose them, he loved them too much.

So, after turning another corner in the vast training room maze, currently mimicking a public market, Onslaught didn't hesitate to pull the trigger of his blaster.

He tried to block out the scream and the soft thud as the clone before him hit and sank down against the wall, smearing blood as he went.

He cringed at the hating look this brother gave him; it was the same every time. He hated himself for this, but he couldn't find the courage to turn the gun on himself, and his fellow squad mates would never forgive him if he did.

He took his training helmet off and knelt before the fallen clone. Taking his brother's hand, he whispered his Mando'a words of forgiveness, the same as every other time. This time though, he couldn't bring himself to look into the clones bright blue eyes; the only mutation that had brought him here.

He had watched too many of his brothers eyes go dim, light fading as they released their last breath. But he would always be there for them when they did; his small way of saying sorry and comforting them in their last moments.

This brother was younger, about a year younger than Onslaught. Nine years old seemed way too young of an age to die to Onslaught.

The clone's dying breath's came in shallow and swift gasps, he barely managed to speak.

"I…I forgive you…" he stammered out before Onslaughts other hand found the clones mouth, silencing him.

"No, I don't deserve your forgiveness," replied Onslaught with both his words and his hurt gaze, which finally looked directly into the clone's eyes. After a few moments, he looked away but too late as he saw the other clone's eyes dim.

Issuing a sad sigh, Onslaught felt the young clone's hand go limp, he released his grip to reach up with his blood soaked gauntleted hand to close the clone's eyelids. Hearing the bell, he got up, training was over for today.

Glancing one last time at the young clone, something broke inside Onslaught. This brother had died with a smile on his face. With the clones scream haunting his thoughts and his haunting blue eyes glaring at him, he made his decision.

He knew somewhere on Kamino, this clone had brothers, brothers by choice perhaps, who missed him and wondered where he had gone. Onslaught vowed that he would find them, tell them how their brother died and let them do to him what he had done to their comrade. But more than anything, he needed to do something right for a change, if not he might just go insane, if he hadn't already. This was his chance to do something good, and he wasn't going to let it pass.

Looking over to his gathered team, he frowned. Their training sergeant was actually coming down to debrief them; ironically, he normally avoided contact with his students as much as possible, well at least these students.

Onslaught hated the Kaminoans; they were too protective of their 'products'. Originally his squad practiced against robots using live fire, like most other commando units. However, when the Kaminoans realized that deserters would be an issue, five years into his squad's life, two squads were given the new task of hunting them down. The hope was that just the mere rumor of them amongst the troops would stop deserters from, well deserting.

Ryker came to the squad as their Sergeant, replacing Onslaught's position. Ryker wasn't a bad brother but he was strict. The Kaminoans had done something to him, he wasn't normal and the rest of their squad knew it. At the time Onslaught could only guess.

Then, only four weeks ago, they switched out the tinnies for the 'defects', and the reason for Ryker became very clear to him.

His squad had refused to fire, to chase them down, it wasn't right and they all knew it. Even Ryker, after what the Kaminoans had done had initially refused. But being threatened with death had a funny effect on them, so training turned to slaughter.

So this was now Onslaught's hell, every week, and he couldn't escape. His once joyous and talkative squad where all shadow's of their former selves. Nothing would be the same after what they had done and continued to do. He only hoped that finding this fallen brothers vod would give him some redemption.

Congratulating them all on a successful job, their training sergeant informed them that this was indeed their last training mission; which explained why twenty 'defective units' had been used instead of the customary five. Evidently, they had passed with flying colors. They all were to report for active duty tomorrow at 0800.

In shocked silence they walked back to their barracks. No one spoke as they all showered and dried themselves. Onslaught fought the urge to stay in the water, trying to wash the blood from his hands; so much he knew would never come off. He had done too much, hurt too many, and lost his best friends, and the war hadn't even started yet. His only chance to find the blue-eyed clone's brothers was tonight.

_'I forgive you'_ that simple sentence would haunt Onslaught for the rest of his life.

"Who am I?" he whispered to himself as he made his way back to the barracks.

This hell he was living was finally over. But, one question remained, what new hell awaited them next?


	2. Chapter 2 A Nighttime Jaunt

**Authors Note:** New chapter, hope you'll like it.

###

Onslaught found his new commando kit already laid out for him when he got back to their barracks. It was a matte black stealth armor, Night Ops armor, specifically designed for them with one purpose in mind, to hunt down and kill deserters. After admiring his new armor he suited up and left for the cafeteria; hoping that he would find who he was looking for there. He would need help tonight for his side mission, who better to ask than Jett?

Jett had always been good at slicing and hacking computer networks, which is why Onslaught needed him. He trained for that specific purpose until their training got side-tracked. He needed to find the young blue-eyed clone's vode, and to do so would require a lot of hacking.

After a lengthy discussion in a corner of the cafeteria, Jett agreed to help.

Later that 'evening', during the beginning of the night cycle, Onslaught and Jett slipped out of their barracks while the rest of their squad slept.

So far everything was going well. After they found and broke into a maintenance room, Jett started to hack the Kaminoan mainframe network.

After a short while, Jett found what they were looking for. He found that the 'defect' came from this very platform, and that the dead clone still had brothers left. Both CT-2460 & CT-2405 were in Barracks C, section 23-34, room 8.

It was clear to both of them that these two young clones had been betrayed by the Kaminoans; 'official' orders on the Kaminoan database showed that the blue-eyed clone got reassigned to a new squad. But worse still, the data showed that these two young clones had been with five other brothers, all who shared the same fate as the blue-eyed clone, CT-2401.

"They put them in a squad of dud's… none of them even stood a chance," Jett said angrily, looking back from the screen to his brother. He hated what they had done as much as Onslaught did.

"I know Jett… it's beyond wrong to have even let them grow up if all the Kaminoans had planned for them was execution. That's why I have to tell these remaining two. I don't think they have mutations so they won't get killed, but I need to tell them what happened to their brother's. They have a right to know… to know what I did," stated Onslaught, looking back to Jett.

"Well, if were going to tell them we should probably get to it. I've placed a temporary loop on all the security vids and sensors from here to those barracks, but it won't take long for someone to discover that if they're really looking for it," Jett added, getting up from the consul.

Getting to Barracks C, section 23-34 was harder than the two clones could have ever imagined. Thanks to the Kaminoans love of glass walled corridors, the two clones had to crawl on the floor through many sections to avoid being seen from other parallel corridors. Their new commando armor didn't help either. It made loud clanking sounds as the plastoid plates moved against the floor. The lifts thankfully were operating, so up six floors they went to Barracks C.

Finding room eight was easy, but neither Onslaught nor Jett had any clue as how to proceed. Two fully armored commandos breaking into two young clones sleeping quarters during a night cycle may send the wrong impression. After all, Onslaught needed these two brothers to listen to him.

Finally, after waiting outside the door for too long, Onslaught signaled for Jett to hack the lock.

While Jett did his part, Onslaught couldn't help but to think what he was going to say.

'"_Hay vod, I am Onslaught, and this is Jett. My Commando Squad and I are responsible for killing the six defective brothers you spent your entire life growing up with. I just wanted to let you know. Have a good night now." _

_Yeah, that would come across as caring and regretful; why not just kill them too, because telling this will probably come close to it. Maybe I should just start by confessing to killing CT-2401, and then if they ask about the others I'll tell them.'_

In only a few seconds Jett finished up with the lock.

"Thanks Jett, I know you're risking a lot helping me with this, I appreciate it. Could you stand guard in the door when it opens, you can then listen to the discussion and stop them if they try to run," asked Onslaught as he looked apprehensively at the door through his T-visor. He was nervous, very nervous.

"Yeah, I'll make sure no one interrupts you all…well, unless I do, but I think we'd be kriffed up by then, unless Ryker covers for our absence. That however is rather doubtful…" Jett mumbled nervously in reply as he pushed down on the button to open the barrack door.

"Jett, stop worrying, everything will be fine, we won't get caught and if we do, I'll take the blame," assured Onslaught; then with a quick sigh he turned and entered the darkened room.

###

**A/N:** Please Review. Also, I don't own Star Wars...


	3. Chapter 3 A Midnight Chat

Onslaught turned on his tactical-spot lamp and surveyed the dark room. Jett hadn't tried to bother hacking the light cycle system for these Barracks; it would have taken to long.

He switched on his HUD's thermal imaging permutation as he noticed that all the wall bunks remained closed. The heat signatures coming from the side vents of each bunk showed which ones had occupants in them. He'd learned that just a few weeks ago, when his squad had visited a batch of clones whose vision was slightly less than 20/20. He didn't care to remember details from that night, it was just another nightmare.

To his surprise, the thermals showed that none of the bunks had any occupants; which either meant that they were too late or the clones were elsewhere in the room, hiding. He hadn't thought that the lock picking had made that much noise.

A slight motion in his peripheral vision made him swivel around. Bright orange and red obscured his vision, except he didn't need to turn off his thermals to see the well-defined blue outline of a DC-17 hand gun pointed at his head.

Onslaught didn't dare move as he turned off his thermals with a blink of his eye. Before him stood two younger brothers, around nine and a half years of age; they both looked frightened. They only wore their night fatigues. The brother in back stood in a defensive stance while the front brother stood in a strong offensive stance. The front one motioned with his gun for Onslaught to move over to one of the tables in the room.

Onslaught could have easily had the two clones on the ground, disarmed, in a few seconds. However he decided that wasn't the best way to approach the situation, he instead intended to coöperate.

"Sit and take off your helmet," ordered the first brother. Onslaught obliged, slowly sitting down with his arms raised up to take off his bucket.

After positioning his helmet on the table so that its lights kept up illumination he looked back to the two clones. Seeing a vod's face emerge from behind the black commando helmet seemed to relax the two clones somewhat, but they were still on edge.

"Who are you? Why did you break in to our barracks?" asked the second. He moved a little closer but still out of arms reach from Onslaught. The clone had armed himself with a combat training vibroblade, low quality compared to Onslaughts gauntlet vibroblade.

"I'm Clone Commando 1224 or Onslaught as my squad calls me. I came here to talk with clone troopers 2460 and 2405... I guess that would be you two," he paused then quickly added, "I didn't come here hurt or take either of you anywhere, I promise."

"You came here to talk to us?" questioned the first still was pointing his DC-17 at Onslaughts head.

"Yes, I have info on the fate of clone trooper 2401. He was a squad member of yours, correct?" replied Onslaught. The two clones exchanged concerned looks before looking back to the commando.

"Did something happen to him?" asked the first clone in concern.

"Um, yeah... but before I tell either of you, I'd appreciate if you'd hold off on the gun pointing until later. Also exactly which brother am I speaking to?"

The first one, after one last look at his companion, lowered his gun.

"I am CT-2460, and this is CT-2405. We haven't given ourselves names yet. You can just call us Sixty or O'five for now. Now, what exactly happened to our brother?" asked Sixty readily wanting to know.

Onslaught sighed, he hated what he was about to say but he had no choice. He decided to give a little background info on what occurred before telling these two the full truth. He assumed that they would probably already have guessed what had happened by the time he got around to it.

After motioning for the two to sit down opposite of him, he began.

"Your brother, 2401 was re-assigned. As you know his eyes are blue, a slight but rare mutation for a clone. He transferred into another squad with similar mutations because of this. That occurred four days ago. They then went to training the next day. As far as I know, the training they went through then was normal. Yesterday however, they, the Kaminoans assigned them to a new training room. My squads training room," Onslaught paused, how should he tell them? They both were looking at him with confused expressions.

"What do you mean by **your** training room? Your commandos, not regular infantry, they wouldn't have you training with them," assured Sixty.

"They weren't sent there to train. We were, but not them, they're main goal was to survive as long as possible." There he said it; the look of realization on Sixty's face told him that the clone understood what he had just said. O'five though still looked confused.

"You... you killed them! You killed him, didn't you!" accused Sixty. Hate, anger and revenge written upon his face. "Say it! You killed our brother, that is what you're saying isn't it?" he questioned furiously, pointing his DC-17 back at Onslaughts forehead. O'five went from looking confused to blankly staring at Onslaught in dismay. The poor brother didn't want to believe what his fellow brother was accusing the commando of doing.

"Yes, I killed trooper 2401," Onslaught stated. With that simple omission, he closed his eyes and waited to die.

###

**A/N:** New chapter, please review. I do not own star wars...


	4. Chapter 4 Merciful Punishment?

Onslaught thought for sure he was dead; these _vod_ had every right to kill him. But why hadn't they done it yet. He decided after a few more moments to open his eyes.

That was a bad idea. O'five was horror-struck, Onslaught guessed he might be in shock, unshed tears clouded his eyes. Sixty on the other hand had a protective arm in front of his brother while the other was still wielding the gun at Onslaught. His accusing glare hurt Onslaught more than he could have ever imagined.

"What about our other brothers, they were reassigned too, did you murder them as well?" accused Sixty angrily, unsure if he wanted to hear Onslaught's response.

"I…. We did. But I only killed 2401, the others got killed by the rest of my squad…" he replied regretfully, hoping the clone would now kill him.

"Why?" asked Sixty simply, his voice quivering. He kept the gun at Onslaughts head.

"I…I had to. You have to believe me when I tell you _ner_ _vod_. The Kaminoans, they forced us to, if we didn't do it they would have. If we didn't then it was my brothers who would have died. They're all I have left. We weren't supposed to do this; we were going to be a regular squad. But they didn't give us a choice…" It all came spilling out of Onslaught; his hardened emotions were getting the better of him. After a quick pause he finished somberly, "I thought that maybe it was better to die by a brother than to die by them."

"I should kill you for what you've done, I should," stated Sixty, anger seething in his voice. But then a cruel smile crossed his face, if not to mask his own emotions, he continued almost mockingly, "But, it looks like you're doing a fine job of that yourself '_ner vod'!_ I think letting you live with what you've done is a far, far better punishment…"

That statement hurt Onslaught even more because it was true. He'd stopped being a brother the day he took his first shot; he should have stopped caring then too. But he was determined not to lose that part of himself, something he thought the Kaminoans could never get rid of. These two brothers though, how could he get them to understand what he had been through, something far worse than any hell. He was the victim wasn't he, not the criminal.

"Get out, now. Or I'll tell the Kaminoans and we'll all get reconditioned," stated Sixty coldly, standing up while keeping O'five, who was still in shock, close behind him.

Onslaught nodded, he was more confused about everything now than he had been before. He thought telling these two was the right thing to do, it was correcting a wrong. But he started to realize how this would appear to them, and he hated himself for it. He stood up, grabbed his helmet, and turned to leave. So much for doing the right thing, he thought, all I've done is to make more enemies.

As he made it to the door, followed closely by Sixty, Onslaught said the only thing he could think to say, even if it wasn't enough, and it came out far weaker than he had intended.

"I am sorry _ner_ _vod_, I really am. Your brother, I was there for him when he died, he forgave me. I hope someday that you might, as well."

Looking at Sixty, the only difference he saw in his face was that of a clenched jaw in anger. Issuing a sigh he placed his helmet on, turned and left the room. Jett, looking up, only nodded and closed the door. He had overheard everything, he was also trying to figure things out for himself, what those brothers had said was true, they should all be dead.

"I'm sorry _vod'ika_, we'll figure it out, we always have. For now, let's just get back to our barracks before someone finds us," stated Jett looking at Onslaught through his visor.

Onslaught only nodded. Jett sighed within the confines of his helmet, nodding his head back in response they both set out back towards their barracks.

###

When the door closed, Sixty sank to his knees. Any trust he had in the Kaminoans disappeared completely in this one visit, replaced by anger, hate and regret. He realized as soon as Onslaught had apologized that he regretted saying what he did. But what else was he supposed to do?

Getting back up he went over to where he left O'five, leaning against a wall. He was still in shock. O'five had never been the most stable brother; he tended to overreact to tense situations. Sixty continued to work with him on his 'problems' and he was making progress. But this didn't help. They had grown up with those brothers. They were all close, so this was a shock to say the least. It's not like Sixty wasn't used to death, he wasn't a commando like Onslaught but he'd seen his fair share of death in the recent live fire exercises.

O'five coming to, looked at his brother standing in front of him. Sixty embraced his brother, assurance that everything was going to be alright. Then they both went over to the table they'd sat at earlier.

"What about us, are we next?" asked O'five quietly, resting his head against his brother who sat silently thinking about their situation. Sixty was forming a plan, it would work, it had to.

"I don't know O'five; we don't have any mutations like the rest of our squad…. But I'm not planning on sticking around to find out. We're leaving this place, the sooner the better, and I think I know just the way to do it." With that assurance both clones went back to bed, though this time together.

###

At 0500 the next morning Onslaught and his squad woke up, they were to report to their training sergeant for active duty. Onslaught hoped that this would be different from their previous training. Less killing and more time for planning an escape. Something he and Jett had discussed before going to bed the night before. But escape depended on one thing, time.

Finding himself and his squad in a new room, a small command center of some sort Onslaught stood at attention, waiting for their sergeant.

Walon Vau walked into the room, wearing his customary black Mandoa armor. Trotting loyally by his side was his strill, Mird or Lord Mirdalan as it's owner affectionately called it. Onslaught, to say the least, hated his sergeant and the thing that was his companion.

However, Onslaught knew Vau well enough to know he didn't like the job these two squads were given. Surprising since Vau was so violent and sadistic. He actually distanced himself more from them than the other squads, or so Onslaught was told by Swindle. But just because he distanced himself from them didn't mean he wasn't cruel or violent.

Onslaught thought about how the other Commandos thought themselves superior because they had made it through the anti-terrorist 'Killing House'. Well, as Vau put it when they had started removing the defects, 'The next few weeks of training will make hell look inviting, you'll be begging to go to the Killing House which is a pleasant day on Naboo compared to this, get used to it.' Their sergeant interrupted Onslaughts thoughts right then by issuing his orders.

"I guess congratulations are in order, your squad has removed over three hundred defective units for the Kaminoans. You should all be very proud." After a quick pause to pet his strill Vau continued coldly, "Now the real work begins, since no units have deserted yet, you'll be doing mop-up work until such a time occurs when there is a deserter. So, this room is where you'll be reporting in, it's your FOB. The Kaminoans have a list of defects they still need removed. So tomorrow we begin that job. You're dismissed; report back here tomorrow at 0400."

Onslaughts heart sank, but what did he expect, a change in work? No, it was the same as before, except this time they wouldn't be training, they were sweeping the city to remove the defects. He couldn't help but think about what Sixty had said earlier, Onslaught only hoped that Sixty and O'five weren't on that list…

###

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I can't say that things will get better for Onslaught and co, but keep reading, eventually they might. Yeah, Walon Vau, but who else could train them for that? Heck, Vau doesn't even like it...

Quick note, no there is nothing sexual going on between Sixty and O'five. Don't even go there. After finding out all of that, and the fact that O'five didn't fare the news to well, I see nothing wrong with what Sixty did. But if you have a problem with brothers being brothers during difficult times then feel free to send me a PM. Hopefully will update sometime next week, both for this story and WAWL.


	5. Chapter 5 Vode An & CT-25-4041

_Kote!_

_Kandosii sa kar'ta, Vode an.  
Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.  
Bal kote, darasuum kote,  
Jorso'ran kando a tome.  
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an._

_Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.  
__Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.  
Bal..._

_Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.  
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.  
Aruetyc talyc runi'la solus cet o'r.  
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.  
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.  
Aruetyc talyc runi'la trattok'o.  
__Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an! _

- Vode An

###

**A Week Later…**

Sixty's heart pounded in his ears as he sprinted down a darkened corridor in Tipoca City. O'five was following at his heals. _This has to work_, Sixty thought, _the transport will be there_. It was a full week after the Commando Onslaught had visited them and turned everything they thought they knew into dust. It was a busy week of planning and it all led to this.

"We're almost there O'five; it's just around the corner. Don't worry _vod!_"

They both skidded around the corner of the corridor. Before them was one of the vast cargo bays that supplied Tipoca City. Sixty observed it from a training room hallway on one of the upper levels of the city. He knew the Kaminoans were receiving supplies from somewhere, and that if they stowed away on one of the transports they could escape. The transports were themselves piloted by droids and were large enough to hide in. Luckily for Sixty and O'five, one such craft had unloaded its supplies already and was getting ready to leave.

Quietly, they snuck around to the loading bay of the ship. Looking around one last time to make sure they hadn't been seen, Sixty hoisted O'five up into the bay before he climbed up. After finding a place behind some empty crates they sat down together. They'd brought everything they could with them; extra ration bars, their training suits and training DC-17's and DC-15a's. Taking off their helmets, they both let out an uneasy sigh. They were panting heavily from the sprint and from their fear of being caught.

_So far so good but we still need to get off planet_, Sixty thought. As if to answer his thoughts the transport's engines hummed to life and moments later they were off the ground. A few standard minutes later the ship left Kamino's atmosphere.

Both Sixty and O'five looked at each other and embraced smiling. They made it!

"I told you it would work O'five! I don't know where we're going _ner vod _but it will be better than Kamino, I know it will be. Hopefully it will be somewhere in the Republic," Sixty stated smiling while placing his arm around his brother.

"What will we do when we get there?" O'five asked, his head resting against his brothers shoulder. He raised a good question, what were they going to do?

"I don't know yet but we'll figure it out. We're brothers and brothers stick together no matter what!" Sixty knew that the road ahead for them wasn't easy, but he felt it would be far better than whatever future the Kaminoans had planned for them.

As O'five fell asleep next to his alert brother, the droid pilot entered into the ship's Navi computer the fastest Hyperspace route to Coruscant. The droid pilot pushed the throttle forward and the transport jumped to Hyperspace.

###

Onslaught sat down in the makeshift FOB after another long day. Issuing a long sigh he took of his helmet and ran his fingers through his short-cut hair. His brothers had just done the same moments before.

Reprieve, that was the only word for it. The squad no longer had to execute the defects personally. Since starting active duty, Onslaughts squad only had to find and escort the defects to the Kaminoans. Of all the brothers Onslaught had escorted, their ultimate demise still weighed heavily on his conscience. Now though, he didn't have to witness their final moments, their last breaths. He just hoped that the Kaminoans killed the defects in a way that was painless. Maybe he hoped too much.

What gave Onslaught renewed hope was a flaw in their 'official' active duty lives. It was believed after their horrendous training, they'd all been turned into bloodthirsty monsters that only followed orders. Thanks to this mistaken belief, supervision of how and when the squad carried out their missions was slackened substantially. Walon Vau, who was supposed to supervise them constantly, was hardly ever around after the first two days of active duty. It was clear that he preferred his other normal commando's over his killing squad. Onslaught took full advantage of this lack of oversight.

Onslaught aided by Jett and Strafe managed to save seventeen of the ninety-eight defects slated for reconditioning this past week. It was mostly due to Jett's hacking abilities. Erasing and placing new files on the unsuspecting Kaminoan main frame network proved far easier than one would think. Onslaught thought it was perhaps too easy, someone might know what they are doing and put a stop to it. So far though that wasn't the case.

Onslaught remembered the _vod_ he'd help save today, no hacking required. Actually, Jett covered up some of their movements shown on Kamino's security Holo-vids. But, other than that, it was the brother's squad who'd saved his life, with help from Onslaught and Strafe.

#

**Earlier that day….**

"Onslaught, Strafe! You two are taking lower deck E-23 today. Only one defect there for you, should be easy. CT-25-4041 has a growth defect. As always, deliver the unit to the Kaminoans quickly. You know what to say should the unit's squad appear..." Ryker said dryly before giving similar orders to Jett and Swindle. Ryker was stuck watching over the FOB in Vau's absence.

"Yes, sir!" Onslaught and Strafe replied in unison. Placing their helmets on they left for the designated deck. By the time they got into the turbo-lifts it was 0600; Onslaught was surprised that a clone trooper would be out practicing already. Normally a regular trooper would have showered, dressed and then reported in at the cafeteria for breakfast by 0700.

Strafe had already pulled up the defects information on his HUD and was scrolling through it. The types of mutations the defective clones were being reconditioned for were becoming more and more minor by the day. It was truly sad.

"Onslaught, did you check out 4041's data yet? The only reason he's getting reconditioned is because he's one inch shorter than his _vode_! One inch! That's ridiculous; he's completely fit for deployment in every aspect except for the fact that he's slightly shorter. Sad... looks like he was turning out to be a really great Comm Officer too."

_Great_, Onslaught thought, _the Kaminoans are truly desperate if, to keep us working, they recondition talented vode_, _hut'uun osik!_

"Maybe we can save him. It might be possible but without Jett, I honestly fail to see how we could pull it off. No offense to your hacking abilities _ner vod_. Jett's just better at it," Onslaught stated, using a private comm channel so Ryker wouldn't be able to hear what was being said.

They left the lifts and headed straight for the Communication Training Room. The CTR was for clones that either showed high scores in different simulation tests regarding comms or a willingness to learn more about it than the basic knowledge provided by their flash-training.

Both commandos entered the room. Only eight brothers were in front of them. One was a Sergeant and operator of the facility. Next to him was his aide. The rest of the men gathered were around a battle simulator. This simulator in particular helped fine tune skills that were vital to a Comm officer's duty, especially in a battle situation. During this specific battle simulation, the officer has to maintain all in-ship communications as well as all Holonet and starfighter comms. He also has to quickly send out personally encrypted distress calls to fleet command while avoiding discovery by enemy intelligence and jamming signals all during a full-fledged battle.

Looking up from his work, the clone Sergeant looked surprised to see two fully armored commandos walking into his facility; his helmet was a his side. Both Onslaught and Strafe saw his surprised look but ignored him and walked over to the un-helmeted group of clones. In the middle of the group, a brother was typing vigorously away at the simulator consul. He had his helmet off, beads off sweat dripped from his forehead. His hair was trimmed in classic Fett style. Both commandos stopped a respectful distance away to wait and watch.

Suddenly, the clone stopped typing and let out an excited yell. After a moment his brother's joined in with laughter and compliments with many pats on the back and head. He had just beaten one of the hardest simulation tests the Kaminoans had to offer.

"Excuse me. I'm Sergeant Vahl. What business do you have here in my facility?" the Sergeant asked cautiously. He had moved from his work station over to the two commandos. They turned around and took off their helmets.

"We are looking for CT-25-4041. I have orders to escort him for reconditioning. Is he here?" Strafe asked coldly. Onslaught, though, thought he already knew which brother was CT-25-4041.

Vahl's facial features slackened and his face went white. His shock only confirmed what Onslaught suspected.

"I... How dar... I don't understand. This has to be a mistake. Runt **is** our most skilled prospective officer... Why?" Sergeant Vahl still hadn't gotten over his shock, but before either Onslaught or Strafe could respond the Sergeant continued angrily, "This is ridiculous, how dare you carry out such an order against a brother! I won't let y..."

"Do not make the mistake of trying to stop us or you might receive the same fate," interrupted Onslaught, before continuing in an angry hushed tone, "Do you think we want to do this? Well do you? We have no choice!"

After a few moments of silence, in which Vahl visibly seethed in anger, he finally pointed a gauntleted hand past Onslaught and Strafe to the now solemn Runt. Runt and his squad overheard everything. For Runt, this was supposed to be a joyful event; he'd past his last test for being a Republic Star Destroyer Comm. Officer. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't possible.

Onslaught's heart sank, _Yep, why do I always have to be right_? Runt's _vode_ had assembled themselves around their brother in a protective circle. They looked like they were ready to murder the two commandos and Onslaught figured that given the chance they might.

Looking at Runt standing with his brothers, Onslaught realized he was the same height as the rest, even with his helmet off. How in the world was this possible?

"Runt, how is it that your head is level with the rest of your _vode _heads?" Onslaught asked.

Right then Runt realized why he was being sent off for reconditioning. It was his height, something his squad had feared for a long time, ever since they were younglings.

"I have padding in my suit, sir," he replied quietly. Looking up, he saw Onslaught was waiting for him to finish. "It was the only way we could think of to fool them. I... I guess it didn't work... Please, don'..."

"Take me instead you _kriffing_ piece of _osik_!" interrupted one of Runts brothers furiously. Of all of Runts brothers, he was closest to the commandos.

Sighing, Onslaught was about to reply when he noticed how identical the two men were. That's when a brilliant idea struck Onslaught. Why couldn't one of Runts 'normal' brothers take his place?

"Very well, if you want to die for your brother so be it! What's your designation trooper?" The nearest brother went from complete anger to amazement that Onslaught had agreed to his demand.

"I'm CT-25-4008. You can call me Trigger or just Trig."

"Very well, Trig, take off all your armor and give it to Runt. Runt, do the same and give Trigger your armor... _Jii shaadlar_!"

Both clones, after looking to each other and back to the others, quickly dressed down and exchanged armor. Runt carefully placed his padding into Trig's armor before putting it on.

"Good. Trigger, you are now CT-25-4041, or Runt. Runt your now Trigger. New Runt come with us."

Trigger, confused as to why he was now Runt, followed the commandos. Runt, though, realized the commandos were actually trying to save him. He couldn't believe it. He knew what Onslaught hoped to do. _It won't work, _he thought_, had the commando forgotten about their electronic wrist ID's? _

"No one is to leave here, that's an order, well be back shortly," Onslaught ordered to the stunned brothers in the room. Then Onslaught and Strafe led Trigger back to the Turbo-lifts.

"Well, what do we do now, _ner vod_? How do we plan on fooling them? We can't change out these two brothers wrist ID codes. Or did you forget?" Strafe mockingly chided.

"I didn't forget, you _di'kut_. It's the only part of this plan that might go wrong. We need to convince the Kaminoans that Trigger is Runt without them scanning his wrist. We need to show them right away that he is the same height as the rest of us and that a mistake has been made in putting him on the defect list."

"As much as I admire your brains Onslaught, I don't think this will work. They know he's defective, that's why he's on the list. Your going to end up getting all of us reconditioned!" Strafe practically cried through their comm channel.

"_Udesii, udesii ner vod!_ I know, but we have something going for us that might save both _vode_. I looked over the entire defect list at the beginning of the week. While it was thoroughly depressing, I don't remember seeing a CT-25-4041 on the list, which means he's been added recently. I bet that due to this it might be easier to convince them that a mistake has been made and with Runts skills they might just fall for it."

Both commandos stayed silent while getting into the lifts. Finally Strafe broke the silence.

"_Gar dini'la, vod_, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I guess after everything we've been through I am. I just hope Trig here remembers who he is now."

After a few more minutes they reached the transfer room for the defects. Both commandos felt a chill go down their spines. So many good _vod_ had passed through these doors never to return. It was truly sad.

They approached a familiar male Kaminoan who they normally reported in to before handing over the defects.

"Sir, RC-1224 and RC-1222 reporting in. We have defective unit CT-25-4041 for reconditioning..." stated Onslaught, then he continued, "Sir, I normally wouldn't bring this up, sir, but it appears that this unit is not defective. What I mean to say is the mutation listed in the records for him doesn't exist. He is the same size as the rest of his fellow units; therefore it seems a mistake has been made." Strafe could swear that this report was the driest and most unemotional he'd ever heard. How Onslaught managed it was beyond his reasoning.

"That is most troubling, RC-1224. Are you sure this is the right unit?" the Kaminoan asked smoothly.

"Yes, sir! As soon as this discrepancy was brought to our attention we scanned the unit's wrist and his fellow units. It all checks out, sir. Training Sergeant Vahl of the Communications Training Room has asked you to consider that CT-25-4041 is the best Comm Officer prospect in the city. He just passed one of his last tests when we arrived, sir."

After a moment's pause, which to Onslaught, Strafe and Trigger felt like an eternity, the Kaminoan finally responded.

"Thank you RC-1224 for bringing this to our attention. Please wait here while we give CT-25-4041 a thorough physical examination. If he passes we will fix the error in our database and you will escort him back to the training facility and inform the Sergeant of our mistake."

"Yes, sir!" replied both Onslaught and Strafe. They watched as a very nervous Trigger followed the Kaminoan through a set of doors.

"I can't believe that worked! I take back what I said about you earlier _ner vod,_" Strafe stated in relief through their private comm channel.

"Don't be so sure, there's still a chance they might scan his wrist again. We'll see."

With that both commandos waited nervously in one of the most dreaded rooms on Kamino. Finally after about fifteen standard minutes, Trigger reappeared unaccompanied. His helmet was off and he was smiling while he placed it back on. Coming over to the two commandos he stood at attention.

"Unit CT-25-4041 reporting for duty, sir! I am to tell you that I've been cleared for duty and am to report back with you to the training room."

Onslaught and Strafe let out a sigh of relief, it worked!

"At ease trooper. Let's get out of here," Strafe stated whilst gesturing in the direction of the lifts.

They moved quickly to the lifts. Once inside Strafe punched in the lower floor number and they were off.

"Did they scan your wrist again? This is very important," Onslaught stated still worried that they might be caught.

"No, they didn't. I though for a moment they might but they actually seemed more shaken up that they'd made a mistake. I was thoroughly checked over but they couldn't find anything wrong so they gave me my instructions and escorted me out, sir."

"Good, I am very glad to hear that Trigger. Thank you for playing along with our little charade. For you and your brother's sake I am glad it worked."

"Thank you both for what you did for my brother. If there's anything we could do for you don't hesitate to ask, we all owe you," Trigger stated firmly. Words couldn't really express the gratitude he felt for these _vode_ at the moment.

Both Onslaught and Strafe just nodded their heads. It would be interesting to see how the others back in the training room would react to the good news. While they had waited for Trig, Onslaught and Strafe had figured out why Runts well hidden problem had been uncovered. His ambitions to be a Comm officer had drawn unwanted attention to him. Someone must have noticed something when he applied for the extra training. Of course this meant that to avoid detection in the future Runt would have to stay in the infantry and avoid higher ranking positions. At least he'd have to until they were all deployed and far away from the prying eyes of the Kaminoans. Telling this to Runt however would be hard.

After a few more minutes they arrived back to the training center. Everyone was still there, as instructed. Luckily Vahl hadn't allowed any other brothers in while they were gone. Walking up to Runt and his squad Trig was warmly welcomed back to the others. Runt was looking cautiously at the commandos waiting to hear what had happened.

"The Kaminoans would like to apologize for the confusion caused by the error regarding CT-25-4041. He's cleared for duty," Onslaught stated. Then both commandoes took off their helmets before Onslaught continued.

"I would strongly recommend to you, Runt, to avoid completing your comm training. If you want to avoid detection again, stay in the regular infantry and stick close to your brothers, they are good men. But whatever you do, don't raise unnecessary attention to yourself. You may yet become that comm officer someday, but wait until you're away from Kamino. As to the rest of you, all you saw today was a mistake made by the Kaminoans. Nothing of what we said is to be repeated to anyone. Do you all understand?"

They all nodded their heads. Runt looked understandably disappointed but he was definitely happy to still be alive.

"Thank you. You two are true _vode_." Runt stated. He meant it too.

"You're welcome. We try our best," answered Strafe confidently, Onslaught just smiled and nodded his head.

_Good,_ Onslaught thought, _that's settled, now all we have to do is report back to the FOB and we're done for today._ Turning both commandos place their helmets on and started back to the lifts.

"By the way, Sergeant," Strafe said turning before exiting the room, "You requested that the Kaminoans consider Runts skills in their determination of whether he was defective or not. Just remember that."

With those last words of advice they left the room.

#

Onslaught was stirred from his memory by Walon Vau walking into the room followed closely by his strill. Immediately they all stood at attention.

"Well boys, you're leaving. Pack up everything and head for landing platform D. Two units escaped last night to Coruscant. Hunt these units down and if you cannot bring them back alive for reconditioning then the Kaminoans want them disposed of. I will not be joining you, as I have unfinished work here with my other squads. Since the clone army has not been deployed officially yet for the Republic, this will be a Black Op's mission. The rest of the info you'll need is being provided by your new advisor. He'll be at the landing platform. Good luck."

Well they were officially hunting deserters now, fun. Onslaught, still in a good mood from earlier in the day, wondered who they were. He wasn't going to ask but Jett did.

"Sir, what are the two unit's designations?"

Vau turned towards Jett, wondering why the commando wanted to know.

"Why do you want to know RC-1223?"

"Just curious, sir!"

"Very well, if I remember correctly they're CT-2460 & CT-2405."

"Thank you, sir, that's all I needed to know." Jett knew this was bad, he was afraid of the effect it might have on Onslaught.

He looked to Onslaught, but Onslaught wasn't paying attention. Something was suddenly hurting inside him; it slowly took over until he was numb all over. _I sentenced them to death! _he thought, _why didn't I think of what they might do!_

"I'm sorry _vod_. We couldn't have known," Jet said over a private channel as they headed towards the platform.

Onslaught didn't reply but just nodded his head.

_I'm sorry too vode_, _I should have never have told you two._

With those final thoughts they all boarded the transport and headed to Coruscant.

###

**A/N: **Yay! Finally updated the story... I hope you enjoyed the back-story for Runt. For those of you who might not know Runt he is currently a minor character in my other story, "Where are we lost?". Those familiar with that story already knew about Runts 'defect'. Well this shows how he survived Kamino without being reconditioned.

I went a little heavy with the Mando'a in this chapter. So for those who might be unfamiliar with Mando'a, below is a list of phrases and words used and their meaning/pronunciation. At the beginning of the story is the Ancient Mandalore song _Vode An_. Check out my **Updated** profile for the English translation. Yes all Mando'a and other languages are italicized.

_Kote! (__KOH-day, KOH-tay__)_ – Glory! Just in case you were wondering…

_Vode An (voh-day ahn)_ – Brothers all

_Vod bal vode_ _(vohd bahl voh-day)_ – Brother and brothers respectively

_Bal_ _(bahl)_ – and

_Ner vod(e) (nair vohd or nair voh-day)_ – My brother(s)

_Osik (OH-sik) _– Dung, basically means shit in English

_Hut'uun osik (hoo-TOON OH-sik) _– Coward dung, my attempt at making one of the worst insults in Mando'a (Calling someone a coward) worse by adding _osik_.

_Kriff(ing) _– Umm, a vulgar expression (Not Mando'a) which is synonymous with Frick(ing) or whatever Frick is synonymous with here on earth : )

_Kriffing piece of osik _– I think you know what that means...

_Jii shaadlar_! _(gee __SHAHD`lar)_ – Move now! or Now move! Either way works in this situation.

_Di'kut (DEE-koot) _– Idiot

_Udesii, udesii ner vod! (oo-DAY-see __nair vohd) _– Calm, calm down my brother!

_Gar dini'la, vod (gahr dee-NEE-lah) _– Your insane, brother


End file.
